Happy Tuesday! Also in this edition of The Broadsheet: The President hits Hollywood… More about Joss Whedon’s micro-budget Shakespeare adaptation… John Cusack and Malin Åkerman, together at last… a definitive glimpse at Bill Cosby’s cinematic worst… and more
· Wal-Martus boomo! Or whatever the spell is that corresponds with Warner Bros.’ decision to pull the Harry Potter movie franchise out of retail circulation this winter: The studio will withdraw all eight of the films from shelves on Dec. 29 after a 10-year, $12.1 billion run. The Disney-esque news is expected to spark a holiday buying binge on the Complete Harry Potter Collection in particular and keep the market primed for special-edition Potter comebacks down the line. The studio hastens to add that VOD and games are not included; awards screeners for Deathly Hallows — Part 2 are presumably safe as well. [Deadline]
· Barack Obama’s Hollywood fundraising swing went off without a hitch, unless you count the president telling stars like Will Smith, Magic Johnson and, uh, Hilary Duff, “This election won’t be as sexy as the last one.” [AP]
· Joss Whedon has opened up a bit about his Shakespeare adaptation Much Ado About Nothing, the existence of which stunned fans early Monday. In a nutshell: It was filmed in 12 days, is in black-and-white, will debut next spring on the festival circuit, and is the “best vacation” Whedon has ever had: “I’ve never been so well-rested and so well-fed as I have on this movie.” [EW]
· John Cusack and Malin Åkerman are booked to star in The Numbers Station, featuring the pair (respectively) as a “disgraced black ops agent charged with protecting…
Full Story »
